Toy

ABSTRACT

A toy in which random household articles may be assembled to a chassis for realizing a movable toy. The chassis frame retains a front axle and a rear axle upon which wheels are rotatably mounted to enable the chassis to move translationally. Spikeshaped members project upward from the chassis frame for penetrating into an article made of soft material and mounted on top of the chassis to form the body of a vehicle. Peg-shaped members projecting downward from beneath the chassis frame permit an article to be held to the chassis frame through flexible bands. Various elements are attachable to the article to render a vehicle-driven toy.

United States Patent [1 1 Span et al.

[ TOY [76] Inventors: Samuel Span, 447 Ogden Ave.,

Teaneck; Walter Thum, 12-42 Sunnyside Dr., Fair Lawn, both of [22]Filed: Jan. 12, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 217,050

I Related U.S. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 861,114, Sept.25, 1969.

[ 1 Dec. 11, 1973 4/1972 Span et al. 46/17 [57] ABSTRACT A toy in whichrandom household articles may be assembled to a chassis for realizing amovable toy. The chassis frame retains a front axle and a rear axle uponwhich wheels are rotatably mounted to enable the chassis to movetranslationally. Spike-shaped members project upward from the chassisframe for penetrating into an article made of soft material and mountedon top of the chassis to form the body of a vehicle. Pegshaped membersprojecting downward from beneath the chassis frame permit an article tobe held to the chassis frame through flexible bands. Various elementsare attachable to the article to render a vehicledriven toy.

2 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDBEB 1 1 I973 SHEET 3 BF 3 TOY Thisis a division of application Ser. No. 861,114, filed Sept. 25,1969 nowUS. Pat. No. 3,654,727.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the design and manufacture of toys forchildren, it is desirable to provide arrangements which will stimulatethe imagination of the child while, at the same time, providing thechild with a source of entertainment and distraction. In conjunctionwith toys of this species, it is also desirable to involve householditems which the child may have ready access to and which, through theiruse, will result in a low cost manufactured item.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A toy arrangement in which a chassis frame ismounted upon wheels to render it movable translationally. The wheels arerotatable upon axles retained in bearings of the chassis frame.Spike-shaped members are mounted upon the top surface of the chassisframe for penetrating into soft material such as cardboard orpolystyrene plastic material, for example. Peg-shaped members projectfrom beneath the chassis frame and serve as anchoring elements forflexible bands which may be passed over any body mounted upon thechassis frame. A variety of decorative elements may be attached to abody mounted upon the chassis frame so as to resemble, in a manner,angautomobile, ship, airplane, etc. The body which may be mounted uponthe chassis frame and to which the decorative elements are attached, maybe an item generally found in a household.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a toy in which achild is given a basic element of the toy, and is encouraged to assemblevarious items, found in the household, to this basic element, so as toresult in a series of differently shaped toys.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide theaforementioned toy so that the various household items may be assembledto the basic member, without requiring the use of any special'tools orassembling de- A further object of the pre'sent invention is to providea toy which may be assembled with ease, and which may assume a varietyof characteristics, depending upon the nature of the assembly and theimagination of the child assembling the toy.

It is a specific object of the present invention to provide a toy whichis vehicle-driven and which may be assembled to resemble, in a manner,full-size real objects.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a toy ofthe preceding character and which may be assembled through theapplication of reusable adhesives and fastening means.

Various further and more specific purposes, features and advantages willclearly appear from the detailed description given below, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings which form part of thisspecification and illustrate merely by way of example, an embodiment ofthe device of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the following description and inthe claims, parts will be identified by specific names for convenience,but such names are intended to be as generic in their application tosimilar parts as the art will permit. Like reference characters denotelike parts in the several figures of the drawings, in which FIG. 1 is anisometric view of the toy chassis base member, in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an assembly of the chassis member of FIG.1 with a block of soft material arranged to resemble a motor vehicle;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of adhesive patties mounted onto a strip forstorage;

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of an assembly of the chassis member of FIG.1 with a drinking can arranged to resemble an airplane;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 in FIG. 6; 1

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a milk container for mounting on thechassis member of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of an assembly of the chassis member of FIG.1 with a shoe arranged to resemble a boat;

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of a cucumber for mounting on the chassismember of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawing and inparticular to FIG. 1, the toy has a basic assembly consisting of achassis frame 10 provided with bearings 12 for retaining a front axle l4and a rear axle l6. Mounted upon these front and rear axles, are frontwheels 18 and rear wheels 20, respectively. As a result of the assemblyof the chassis frame 10 to these wheels, the chassis may be made toglidefreely along a surface with translational motion.

The rear axle 16 may be mounted, furthermore, within a housing 22projecting downward from beneath the chassis frame 10. A conventionalwindup or battery operated'motor (not seen) may be located-withinvhousing 22 to provide power'to rear axle 16.

The chassis frame 10 consists of two longitudinal members 10a, areartransverse member l0b,.and a front transverse member 100. Thetransverse members are secured to the longitudinal members of thechassis frame, so that all members meet at right angles. Downwarddirected members 10d, furthermore, are secured to the front of thechassis frame 10 for the purpose of holding the axle 14. The chassisframe 10 may be made of soft material such as wood, or of hardermaterial such as plastics or metal. The transverse members of thechassis are secured to the longitudinal members thereof so that theupper surface of the chassis forms a smooth plane.

Projecting upward from this plane of the top surface of the chassisframe 10, are spike-shaped protrusions or members 24. One of thesespike-shaped protrusions or members is located at each end of the twotransverse members 10b and 10c. These spike-shaped protrusions ormembers may be integrally constructed with the transverse members, orthey may be assembled thereto.

On'the lower side of the transverse members 10b and 100, are peg-shapedprotrusions or members 26 which project downward towards the surfaceupon which the wheels may ride.

The imaginative child may use the vehicular assembly of FIG. 1 incombination with a block 28 made of, for example, polystyrene. Thelatter is a material which is relatively soft and workable and may, forexample, be cut with a knife for the purpose of shaping it into anydesired configuration. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, for example, thisblock of polystyrene is shaped to produce a toy automobile or jeep. Theblock 28 is, itself, secured to the chassis frame 10, through means ofthe spike-shaped members 24 which pierce the lower surface of the block28, and penetrates into the interior of the block. As a result of suchpenetration of the spikeshaped members 24 into the block or body 28, asshown in FIG. 3, the body or block 28 is securely held to the chassisframe 10.

After the block or body 28 has been mounted onto the chassis frame 10,it may be dressed or decorated with a variety of different elementswhich are readily attachable to the block or body 28. In the embodimentof FIG. 2, for example, these elements are attached to the block 28 soas to result in a toy jeep or automobile. The attachable elements mayconsist of, for example, the front and rear fenders 30 and 32,respectively, radiator 34, head lamps 36, windshield 38, steering wheel40, and radio antenna 42. These elements may be attachable t the mainbody or block 28, through the application of spike-shaped members 34a,for example, which hold the radiator 34 to the block 28, as shown inFIG. 4. These spike-shaped members 34a function similarly to thespike-shaped members 24 in penetrating the block 28 and thereby securelyattaching the radiator elements 34 to the front portion of the block 28.

Another method for attaching the decorative elements to the block 28resides in the use of moldable adhesive elements 44. These may beprovided upon a strip 46 for use as required. The adhesive elements 44are moldable within the hands and are premanently tacky, so as to serveas an adhesive between any decorative elements and the body 28 to whichthe decorative elements are to be attached. After any constructed toy isto be disassembled, these adhesive elements 44 may be replaced upon thestrip 46 for subsequent reuse in producing another assembled toy.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment in which a metal can 48 is used for mountingupon the chassis frame rather than, for example, the polystyrene block28. The metal can 48 may, for example, be from an empty Cola can. Toattach the metal can 48 to the chassis frame 10, use is made of thepeg-shaped members 26 projecting from beneath the chassis frame. Bymeans of flexible bands 50, which may be in the form of simple rubberbands, the can 48 is held to the top surface of the chassis frame. Thus,a simple endless rubber band 50 provides that the front and rear of thecan and chassis frame, may be used to assemble these two memberstogether.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the decorative elements are used for thepurpose of dressing or decorating the can 48 so as to result in anairplane toy. Accordingly, wing portions 52, propeller blades 54, andrudder portions 56 are assembled to the can 48, through the use of theadhesive elements 44. As shown in FIG. 7, these adhesive elements 44 maybe simply molded and pressed between the decorative and attachableelement 52 and the can 48. Since the can 48 is made of metal, attachmentof the decorative elements to the can is accomplished preferably throughthe use of the adhesive element 44, since the can is not readily piercedby spike-shaped members such as the members 24 and 34a, for example.

The chassis assembly of FIG. 1, therefore, is adapted to be readily usedin conjunction with a soft and workable body 28, as well as a rigidmetal member 48. The toy is, consequently, designed to stimulate theimagination of the child in the different methods of assembly andattachment possible through the use of the particular assembly of FIG.I.

A further example of a body which may be mounted upon the chassisassembly of FIG. 1, is given in FIG. 8 which illustrates an empty milkcontainer 58, for example. Thus, the milk container 58 may be assembledto the chassis frame 10 through the use of either the spike members 24which will readily pierce the paper material of the container 58, orthrough the use of the pegs 26 in combination with rubber bands 50. Afurther embodiment through which the imagination of the child may bestimulated, is illustrated in FIG. 9 in which a discarded shoe 60, forexample, is mounted upon the chassis frame 10. In this embodiment ofFIG. 9, the shoe is held in place by making use of the pegs 26 andrubber bands 50. The shoe is then dressed or decorated so as to resemblea sailboat by attaching a sail 62, steering rudder 64, and flag 66 atthe top of the sail post.

Aside from the empty drinking can 48 or the shoe 60 which are readilyavailable to a child in the usual home, food items may also be used forthis purpose. The cucumber 68 shown in FIG. 10, for example, may also bereadily mounted uponthe chassis frame through the use of, for example,the rubber bands 50 or the spikeshaped members 24 in particularinstances. The cucumber 68 is consequently of soft material which may bereadily pierced by spiked portions 34a for attaching decorative elementsto the cucumber. A block of cheese or other vegetables and fruits arealso examples of possible bodies for assembling to the chassis frame 10and providing, thereby, a large possible variety of assembled toys.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to acertain preferred example, it will be understood by those skilled in theart after understanding the principle of the invention, that variouschanges and modifications may be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A toy comprising in combination, a generally rectangular frame memberhaving a substantially flat upper surface operative to receive a varietyof household objects so that the resulting assembly resembles a vehicle,front and rear axles mounted within openings in said frame member, atleast one front wheel and one rear wheel mounted on each axle, saidframe member being movable along a surface through rotation of saidwheels in contact with said surface, and at least two pegs projectingdownwardly on opposite sides of said frame and operative to receiveopposite ends of a flexible band passing over and retaining a householdobject on said frame.

2. A toy as defined in claim 1 wherein a pair of said pegs projectdownwardly from each side of said frame.

1. A toy comprising in combination, a generally rectangular frame memberhaving a substantially flat upper surface operative to receive a varietyof household objects so that the resulting assembly resembles a vehicle,front and rear axles mounted within openings in said frame member, atleast one front wheel and one rear wheel mounted on each axle, saidframe member being movable along a surface through rotation of saidwheels in contact with said surface, and at least two pegs projectingdownwardly on opposite sides of said frame and operative to receiveopposite ends of a flexible band passing over and retaining a householdobject on said frame.
 2. A toy as defined in claim 1 wherein a pair ofsaid pegs project downwardly from each side of said frame.